I would find that preposterous, given the hatred Saddam had for the Assad regime. The Assad family - and ruling clique - are "alewite," a type of Shi'a. Saddam was a Sunni and hated them. The official ruling party in Iraq, the Baathists, hated them, although the Assads were nominal Baathists themselves. It's tough to admit that Saddam really did destroy them but found it to his interests to keep people guessing (as the Israelis have), but that appears to be the case...I recall hearing about Israeli intelligence reports that had Iraqi chemical weapons being shipped to Syria. But, who knows what is true, what is disinformation, or what is completely made up by "sources"?